TEDIndia Tidbits: On India & China's Moment; Mythology & Management

For the duration of the TED India conference, we’re expanding our mandate a little beyond telecom and digital media: ideas are worth spreading, and who knows what might inspire. We’ll bring to you mostly short and sharp inputs from the talks, and perhaps something from (on record) conversations with those attending, who are just as fascinating.

Average Income In India & China To Equal US & UK By 2048

In a captivating, evocatively delivered talk, Hans Rosling (twitter, Wikipedia), using his proprietary software Gapminder, predicted that the average income in India and China will be equal to the average income in the US and UK on the 27th of July 2048. Comparing average income and life expectancy in the US, UK, China and India evolved since 1858, Rosling showcased how world events impacted these economies, and China and India had grown both in terms of life expectancy and income since 1947. At present, life expectancy in Kerala is higher than that in Washington DC, and Rosling joked that he sees a business opportunity for Kerala to fix the health systems of the United States.

However, Rosling warned that the biggest challenge that India and China will face, is in addressing inequalities: social investments are needed, and “It’s so stupid to leave other human beings in deprivation.”

Mythology & Management

Devdutt Pattanaik, Mythologist: Every culture is trying to understand itself, why do we exist. Every culture is trying to come up with its own version of mythologies. These are translated in the form of stories visuals and signals. Different people of the world have a different understanding of the world – there’s my world and your world. This is the root of the clash of civilizations. Belief influences behavior, and behavior influences the business that they are in. Cultures with a focus on one, go by binary logic, absolutes and linear; those that believe in infinity, focus on the grey, fuzzy logic, in visions instead of one vision, the individual instead of institutions, conversation instead of documentation, “setting” instead of compliance.